Baby Lamb is FIVE!!

This day has come far faster than I imagined that it would.  I guess that happens with the second child.  Baby Lamb is five.  I'm gonna go curl up in a ball and cry now.

As always, I have to recap the past years of my sweet boy's life starting from day one.  We are gonna be pretty brief today--birthdays only!  My five year old wants to play. :)  So, here goes:

Brand new.  Sweet boy made us a family of four at 9:24am on May 9, 2011.

We were shocked to be meeting him earlier than we'd expected.  Big brother Chan was more than excited.  His first words when they met for the first time were "awww--look at his tiny, little fingers!"  Their brotherly bond was established right then and there.

One year flew by!  We quickly learned that having two boys was an adventure.  They kept us on our toes so much that we hardly even realized one year had passed.  We celebrated with a big Sesame Street bash and smash cake, of course.

And our session with our favorite photographer, Wendy Hardin.  It is always hard to pick just one favorite from a session, but this one seemed to exude all things Liam--sweet, curious, fun-loving.

If one year flew by, then the second year happened in a blink.  Pretty soon we were celebrating out little monkey turning TWO with a monkey birthday bash.  He was oh-so-lovable at this age!  And into everything.

He would run from one fun thing to the next, laughing all along the way.  Full of life, always smiling.

And then three came along.  Seemed like such a "big boy" age.  Sweet thing never stopped smiling, followed Chandler everywhere, and was showing his big love everywhere he went.

His sweet little cheeks!  I could eat him up!! 

Big boy 4!!  Rough and tumble all the time, hard to keep clean, excited about everything, 

and always eager to please.  

He was really turning into a "little boy" by four.  No more baby to our little Baby Lamb.

And now his years fill a whole hand of fingers.  And he is "so happy to be five"!  And although he may not be a baby any longer, his desire to show love and make others feel loved is still so strong--he told me just today "Mommy, you can still hold me like a baby if you want to."  So, I think I will.

My dear, sweet Liam~

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

my BABY you'll be."

~R. Munsch~

Happy Birthday, Baby Lamb!  I love you to the moon and back...over and over again.

Mommy :)

You Might Be a Mother of Boys If...Part 5

Well with these two weeks off, I've actually had some time to sit down and do some things that I've not made time for in a while.  This is for real the second blog post in a  week!  And since the list has been growing over the past year and half since I did my last "You Might Be a Mother of Boys" post, I figured I would go ahead and get Part 5 rollin'.  So here goes:

You Might Be a Mother of Boys If...Part 5

76. Favorite books in your home library include Walter the Farting Dog and What's That Smell?

77. You have, from time to time, experienced the rush of a Demolition Derby in your very own kitchen featuring the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe versus the Fisher Price Harley.

78. You know that lightening bugs can survive in a mason jar for five nights.  (Six if they're lucky.)

79. It is not unusual that you are often serenaded during your dinner preparation with a band made up solely of your children banging on pots and pans with wooden spoons.

80. When you go on the search for your favorite fuzzy blanket and pillow, you are more likely than not bound to find them in one of many blanket forts that are built around your house.

81. You know that hermit crabs  A.) can escape from their glass enclosures  B.) are  pretty fast little buggers and C.) have impeccable climbing skills.

82. You've had one or more bottles of urine in your car during a road trip.

83. You always have a dry wall repair kit handy at your house.

84. Your children ALWAYS laugh at Winnie the Pooh...for obvious reasons.

85. Your child asked Santa for a Fart Blaster for Christmas.

86. You really have no need for chairs around your dinner table since your children are in constant motion; moving, jumping, climbing, or dancing around the table even while eating their dinner.

87. Your family's favorite Olympic sport is Winter Figure Farting.  (Seriously.  This is a thing.  If you have boys, you probably know this already. If you don't, Google it.)

88. You have no one in your home to watch Disney princess movies with.

89. You've had a dog covered in applesauce.

90. You know that dogs will eat corn on the cob.  As in, the whole cob.  (But, it will come back up.)

91. You have first hand knowledge that one should NEVER give a gerbil a bath.

92. Your children are so rough and tumble that your youngest received his first bloody nose at the age of 2...from big brother.

93. You know not to leave your children in the bathroom alone with a full bottle of hair gel.

94. You know how long it takes to clean up 5 pounds of dry beans and 4 boxes of macaroni noodles out of carpet.

95.  You know that a Dyson can, in fact, lose suction.

96. You no longer ask your children to feed and water the dogs, because waterfalls in your hallway just aren't helpful.

97. You actually own a coin bank that toots when you put money in it. ("Drop in some loot to hear me toot." For real.)
98. You've spent many hours helping your child construct a "squirrel-catcher" because, out of the blue, your child decides that you need a pet squirrel.
99. Your children are not afraid of heights.  Or danger.  Or the dark. Or broken bones.  In fact, nothing seems to scare your children at all (much to your dismay).
100. You live in constant fear of the unexpected Nerf dart to the face.

Yep, our lives are certainly full of excitement thanks to these two!
But, we wouldn't change it for the world!  

"Boy, n,: a noise with dirt on it."
~Not Your Average Dictionary~

Till next time friends!
Brittany :)

P.S. For a look at the rest of this list, check out these blog posts:

You Might Be a Mother of Boys If...Part One

You Might Be a Mother of Boys If...Part Deux

You Might Be a Mother of Boys If...Part Three

You Might Be a Mother of Boys If...Part Four

Top 14 of 2014

Oh, look!  A blog post!  Yep, it's been awhile.  But, here I am (as on most New Year's Days past) looking back over the past years.  My TimeHop app showed me this blog post from 2012 (Love is Here) and then I came across last year's blog post ("My Top 10 of 2013") and thought I would carry on the tradition.  Maybe one day Us Koehns will have a nice, big coffee table book of our very own Top 10's (with a twist).

So, without further adieu, here are our Top 14 of 2014:

Welcoming home my nephew Sam on January 28, 2014

We met Andrea and Jon at the airport and got to see The White Family become SIX!  Such an exciting day!!

Baby Lamb celebrated turning THREE on May 9, 2014.  This hardly seems possible.  Thanks, as always, to my dear friend Wendy Hardin for capturing my sweet 3 year old's pictures!!

This fella and I celebrated TEN YEARS OF MARRIAGE on April 3, 2014!  Can you believe that we have endured each other enjoyed wedded bliss together for this long??

Chan completed the Nashville Kids Marathon on April 27, 2014.  He had a great time (even beat me!) and had fun, but I was most proud of him for overcoming the anxiety that he had about running this race.  The crowd of strangers, the unknown of having not done it before...he was not so sure about it.  But, he did it.  So proud of him.

June 2014 and the boys' first (but definitely not last) visit to the happiest place on earth! A definite high point of our year!  I started planning our next trip the day we got home.  I still have PDD (Post Disney Depression).

June/July 2014- Meeting Xia. Andrea & Jon hosted Xia (on the left) this summer and decided at the end of the program that he would be joining their family through adoption, too.  They hope to bring my new nephew (who will be named Christopher) home by March of this year.  Are these two not the cutest?!?!

Chan-Man started SECOND GRADE, YA'LL!!  August 1, 2014 he started school with the best 2nd grade teacher ever, and right across the hall from his momma.  He is having a great year!!

Our forever home!!  We moved for the FINAL time into our forever home on August 5, 2014.  Back to school, work, and moving all in the same week. It was a tad crazy, but whatevs.

Seven years old just doesn't seem right, but seven came anyway.  On September 6, 2014 we celebrated Chan's 7th birthday and my 33rd 29th. 

On September 13, 2014 Liam started riding a bike SANS TRAINING WHEELS!  Since when do three year olds do this??  Chan was determined to teach him, and he did.  Success story--they actually worked together for a bit with minimal fighting and accomplished a goal.  Proud Momma.

October 2014: our annual beach trip.  Sand, sun, surf, and crazy family.  Can't top that.


October 31, 2014.  Because I.JUST.HAD.TO.  I couldn't have our Top 10 not include Wayne & Garth.

And okay, these little boogers were pretty excellent, too!  I did kind of love their costumes this year.

November 28, 2014: We've made a tradition out of going to cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  One of our favorite days of the year, and this year the rest of The Koehns got to join us.  We had a blast kicking off our good, old-fashioned family Christmas.

My personal resolution was completed on December 20, 2014 when I finished my final 5K of the year.  I ended the year with 12 5Ks and 1 Kids Fun Run.  The Half-Marathon was a wash this year since I had strep throat that weekend, but oh well.

And there it is, folks.  All wrapped up into 2014, but with lots, lots more in memories.  Can't wait to see what 2015 holds for Us Koehns. 

"Whether we want them or not, the New Year will bring new challenges;
whether we seize them or not, the New Year will bring new opportunities."
~Michael Josephson~

Till next time, friends!
Brittany :)